


Best Day Ever

by stellarmeadow



Category: Best Song Ever - One Direction (Music Video), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Crack, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-05 16:18:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marcel's plan for the best day ever at work had turned into a nightmare. Could it still be salvaged?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Day Ever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chelseafrew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chelseafrew/gifts).



> Couldn't resist the lure of Marcel, what can I say? Many thanks to my beta for assuring me the voices were right!

Marcel pressed back into the corner, trying to make himself as small as possible. His day had started out so wonderfully! One Direction was coming in to talk about their new movie. It was the biggest project he'd ever worked on, and he was full of ideas he was sure they'd love. After all, he'd studied all the most famous boy bands ("recording artists," Marcel, remember the memo, NEVER say "boy band!") in history and he knew just the right marketing that had made them so popular.

He hadn't even minded needing to work late on a Friday, providing the "show of dedication" Jonny and Harvey had insisted would impress the band. He'd arranged to have his neighbor feed his cats, since he wouldn't be home for dinner, and he'd spent all day going through his mock ups trying to decide which poster he thought the band would like the most.

His carefully created posters now lay in pieces around the room, along with, well, the room itself. Mail, books, shelves, computers - everything was scattered around the office in a giant, expensive mess. And worse, Veronica, light of his life, the reason he came to work every morning, was looking like this was the most exciting thing ever.

The subjects of his project were huddled over on the other side of the room, talking. They were looking around and pointing, and Louis looked like he was doing his best to talk Harry into something. Marcel watched as Harry's emphatic head shakes became slow nods, just before Louis disengaged himself from the group and headed Marcel's way.

Marcel looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. Harry was cornering Veronica on the other side of the room, but Marcel didn't have time to see more before his view was blocked by Louis.

"So, Marcel," Louis said, putting his arm around Marcel's shoulder. Marcel leaned away, giving him a shocked look, because really, people shouldn't take such liberties, but Louis just gave him a winning smile. "The lads and me heard about this club near here, where all of us can actually get in, but we don't know LA, so we thought maybe you'd come with us?" Louis leaned in, and Marcel had to force his throat to swallow. "Make sure we don't end up in trouble?"

He saw his career flashing before his eyes, because he was quite sure there was no way he could keep these rascals from getting into trouble. And he had a feeling he'd be the one to blame when it all blew up in their faces. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Of course it is!" Louis hand gripped Marcel's shoulder, pulling him over towards the others. "You can help us, and I'm sure the studio would be grateful. There's, like, a vice president of marketing here, yeah? Shouldn't that be you?"

Marcel pictured a shiny name plate on a door with his name. Then he looked around the room again and pictured himself sending out resumes under a new identity so someone would hire him. "I'm really not sure about this."

"Look," Louis said, pointing at the group, "your friend the secretary is going. How bad can it be?"

He saw that Veronica was indeed with the boys as they were edging carefully towards the door, and she was smiling at Harry. Boy band megastar or not, Harry had not put the work into Veronica that Marcel had. He hadn't researched her favorite colors, foods, fragrances, movies, music, flowers, books and animals to try to market himself to her. And Marcel wasn't giving up easily.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go for a little while."

"Brilliant!" Louis patted him on the shoulder and all but dragged him the rest of the way to the group. "Marcel here is in," he said, bumping shoulders with Harry, which, Marcel was pleased to notice, moved Harry away from Veronica.

"Awesome," Harry said, moving around to Veronica's other side and putting his arm around her. "Veronica, love, is there a back exit we can take? Before we get noticed?"

Marcel followed the direction of Harry's nod to where Jonny and Harvey were looking around, obviously trying to find the culprits of the disaster that had befallen their offices. Perhaps it would be prudent to help them escape so his bosses wouldn't see him with the group and assume he'd had something to do with it.

"This way," Marcel said, leading them down a back hallway. They passed a number of offices, thankfully all with closed doors, before they reached the back exit Marcel had seen a bunch of people use to go take a smoke break. "The alarm is broken," he said as he pushed the door open.

Which was when the fire alarm started wailing.

"I guess they fixed it," Louis said in his ear, dragging Marcel into a run as they all made a break for it.

They made it away from the building before anyone saw them and before Marcel passed out they were actually able to stop running. He doubled over, trying to catch his breath, wishing he had his inhaler handy, which he hadn't needed since he was a child.

A hand landed on his shoulder. "You okay, mate?" Louis said.

Marcel nodded. "I'm...good...." He would've said more, but he needed air for breathing.

"Great, let's get going. The club's not far."

They walked the rest of the way, for which he was grateful. By the time they walked up to a plain door on the side of a warehouse, Marcel could breathe. He was confused, though. "I thought we were going to a club."

"We are," Louis said as Zayn knocked on the door. Marcel watched him say something to the person who answered, and then they were ushered inside. They went down a long, dark hallway, but there was music playing nearby, he could feel the bass from it.

The man who had answered the door opened another door, and music and lights hit Marcel like a physical blow. He didn't know the song, but apparently the band did, as they immediately started dancing to the music while still walking inside.

They were led up a set of side stairs to a private area overlooking the main floor of the club. Marcel was glad, since he would rather be up here, a little removed, than down in that sea of people. He saw a couch off  to the side and sat down in the corner of it, staring at the people below.

The couch rocked as someone  threw himself into it beside him. "Have a drink," Louis said, holding out the beer in his left hand. Marcel took it, and Louis started drinking the other beer he'd been holding.

Marcel took a drink and wrinkled his nose. "Beer," he said, with the same tone he used when talking about casual Fridays.

"What?" Louis frowned at him. "It's good."

Marcel shuddered, but he didn't want to be rude, so he took a few more sips. It wasn't that bad, he supposed, once you got used to it. He kept sneaking looks at Louis, though, who was watching Veronica, getting lots of attention from Harry at the bar and seeming to like it. "Why are you over here with me?" Marcel asked at last.

Louis blinked at him. "What?"

"You're obviously besotted by Veronica," he said, not bothering to hide the misery in his voice. It wasn't like Louis would notice. "Why aren't you over there?"

Louis stared at him for a few seconds, before looking back over at Veronica, then back at Marcel. "Oh," he said, a smile growing on his face. "I see."

"What?"

"You." He nodded towards the bar. "Veronica."

"We work together."

"Uh-huh. And..." Louis leaned in and lowered his voice, "bet you'd like to _play_ together too, yeah?"

Marcel gulped down his beer, choking a little on it. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said, crossing his legs and looking down at the people below.

"Hey, mate, there's no shame in it," Louis said, still leaning in, still talking low enough that they  couldn't be overheard, especially through the music and chatter. "She's quite fit."

"She's what?"

Louis rolled his eyes. "Hot. She's hot."

Marcel looked at the bar, where Harry was tucking Veronica's hair behind her ear. "She's okay, I guess," he said.

From the way Louis laughed, Marcel guessed he hadn't been subtle enough. "Yeah, she's _okay_." Louis nudged him. "Like a Porsche is a 'nice car'!"

"Oh," Marcel said, feeling even less happy. "I see."

Louis gave him a sharp look. "What?"

"You want her."

Louis was shaking his head before the last word was finished. "No way, mate. Anyone can see the way you look at her. I wouldn't get between that."

"Then what's going on?" Marcel looked at Harry and Veronica getting closer on their bar stools. "What difference does it make?"

Louis looked over at the bar again, something on his face that made Marcel feel a little sad. "I just want to keep Harry from moving in on your girl."

"I don't think that's it." Marcel studied Louis. "Oh," he said, finally figuring it out. "I see."

Louis looked slightly alarmed. "What?"

"You're very sweet," Marcel said, "and it's okay. I won't say anything. I know all about the importance of keeping up appearances for marketing purposes."

"What," Louis asked in a strangled voice, "are you on about?"

"You," Marcel said, finishing off his beer. It really was quite tasty once you got used to it. "You're trying to save Harry from cheating on his secret girlfriend."

Louis stared at him for a minute before taking a long drink of his beer. "Right," he said finally. "Yes. That's it. You've totally figured me out."

"See, I'm in marketing. I read people."

"You're very good at it," Louis said, nodding as he finished his beer. "Want another?" he asked, holding up the bottle.

Marcel nodded and Louis ran off to the bar to get more. Marcel saw now how Louis inserted himself between Harry and Veronica, pushing them apart, saying something to Harry that made him smile, then laugh, his head thrown back, his smile brilliant before Louis left them to come back to the couch.

"Here," Louis said, handing Marcel the bottle.

"Thanks." Marcel took a drink, watching as Harry and Veronica continued to talk. He noticed Harry wasn't quite so close this time, though. "Must be someone special," Marcel said.

"What?"

Marcel took another drink. "Harry's girlfriend. You must like her a lot to protect her."

"Uh...yeah." Louis took a long drink. "Special. Totally."

Marcel leaned in. "Really special, huh? Is she your sister?"

Louis choked on his beer. "No. No, it's not my sister."

"Ah," Marcel said, leaning back, all the pieces slotting into place. "So the rumors are true, then?"

Louis head whipped around, his mouth falling open a little. "Rumors?" he asked in a strangled voice. "What rumors?"

"Harry really is dating Taylor Swift, isn't he?" Marcel said. It was obvious. He patted Louis on the knee. "You're very kind to save America's sweetheart more heartache." He looked more closely at Louis. "Are you okay? You're turning purple."

"Fine," Louis said, sounding like he couldn't quite breathe. "Just...uh...need the loo. Be right back."

He stumbled off to the men's room. Marcel went back to watching the people dancing below, but it was less than a minute before the couch rocked again. He turned to see it wasn't Louis this time. Harry had dropped down beside him, drink in hand, a bright smile on his face. "Hiya, Marcel!"

"Hello, Harry."

"Where'd Louis get off to?"

"Bathroom." Marcel looked over his shoulder at the men's room door. "It's okay, though. He told me your secret."

Harry's smile disappeared, his eyes wide. "He, uh...what?"

"It's okay." Marcel mimicked zipping his lips and throwing away the key. "Your secret is safe with me. You can tell Taylor she has nothing to worry about. I won't tell anyone that you two are still dating."

Harry burst out laughing. It was nice to see him relieved that Marcel knew. "Oh, thank you," Harry said, patting Marcel on the shoulder. "I really appreciate it. I'm sure Louis was thrilled."

"He seemed a bit surprised I figured it out," Marcel admitted. "But it was very sweet of him to try to keep you from making Taylor upset with the way you looked like you were hitting on Veronica."

Harry choked on his drink. "Well, Marcel," he said, still coughing a little. "I'll tell you another secret." He leaned in close. "Veronica and me, we were talking about you."

"You were?"

"We were. In fact, she thinks you're quite cute, mate. She's just been too embarrassed to approach you at work."

"Embarrassed? But she's so gorgeous, and I'm...me."

"Smart, successful you, according to her."

Marcel looked over at the bar where Veronica was staring at her glass. He could see she was sort of glancing in their direction out of the corner of her eye, though. "Do you think I should go over there?" Marcel asked, straightening his tie.

"I think you really should."

"Oh." He stood up, tugging down his vest. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome."

Marcel saw Veronica watching as he approached the bar. She looked down at her drink, then back up at him through her lashes, and his steps faltered for a second. He made it to the bar, though, and sat down next to her. "What are you drinking?" he asked, nodding at her empty glass.

"Gin and tonic."

Marcel raised a finger at the bartender, the way he'd seen important people do all over LA. "Two, please," he said with authority, pointing at Veronica's glass.

The bartender nodded as if what Marcel wanted was incredibly important to him and hurried to get the drinks. Marcel glanced back at the couch, where Louis had returned, down next to Harry, their heads buried in a private conversation. They looked quite close, and Marcel was happy to know they were such good friends. He hoped it made their jobs easier.

"Here you go, sir," the bartender said, looking at Marcel attentively. "Can I get you anything else?"

A feeling of power went through him, intensified as Veronica looked at him like he was a studio executive.

Maybe he'd do okay in LA after all.

\----

END


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